Freeport Support Brings Professional Theater to Remote Mining Communities

June 10, 2026 - Freeport’s longstanding support for bringing professional theater to communities near its operations has been recognized by Childsplay, a nonprofit theater company it has partnered with since 2004.

Financial assistance from the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation – the company’s nonprofit community investment organization – helps pay the cost of taking the show on the road. It is important to bring arts educational programs to communities across Arizona, said Angie Harmon, Regional Manager, Social Performance-North America.

“Freeport is grateful to organizations like Childsplay,” Harmon said. “It’s really important that the resources they provide and the things they do are available to kids no matter where they live. Performance and theater are something every child should have an opportunity to experience. By partnering together and having performances go to rural communities, we are able to make that available to kids across the state.”

The company’s support of Childsplay recently was recognized by the organization with the Corporate Excellence Award at its World of Wonder Gala.

Childsplay uses adult professional actors, and the plays typically incorporate some type of life lesson. Performers hold discussions with the students after the shows. Without Freeport’s support it is unlikely the theater troupe would stage performances in many of the rural areas near company operations, Harmon said.

Through this partnership, Childsplay typically tours two or three productions each year to Freeport-supported communities and reaches approximately 200 students per performance. Overall, the performances have reached more than 8,000 students over the 22-year partnership with Freeport.

Childsplay serves an important role in bringing the arts to rural schools across Arizona, with Freeport’s help, said Steve Martin, the organization’s managing director. Exposure to the arts benefits children academically and socially, Martin said. Freeport’s support allows Childsplay to perform and reach young people who otherwise “likely would never experience professional theater ever in their entire lives.”

Photo: The Childsplay professional theater organization brings its performance of The Imaginators to rural communities near Freeport mine sites with help from the company’s foundation.